News for Restaurants in Chicago April 2011 Archive

Read about the openings, closings, chef shuffle, and special events in Chicago here. Gayot's Restaurant News has the information you want on the local restaurants in Chicago.

CHICAGO RESTAURANT NEWS

Openings

Pie is pretty popular in these parts, and now there's another spot to get a sweet fix. Uptown Pie Company is dispensing pies both sweet and savory---from corn and shrimp cobbler and quiche with mushrooms, Gruyère and spinach to orange cream, Dutch apple and raspberry-peach varieties---in the same space that houses The Cupcake Gallery. Uptown Pie Company, The Cupcake Gallery, 1319 W. Wilson Ave., Chicago, IL 60640, 773-334-5450.

Would you pay $3 for a single doughnut? If so, get it line at the Doughnut Vault, Brendan Sodikoff's mad-popular sweet spot prepping buttermilk, chestnut and coconut cream-filled numbers to the appreciative masses. Doughnut Vault, 401 1/2 N. Franklin St., Chicago, IL 60654, no phone.

Get a taste of South America without leaving Chicago at Flavor 180, a Chilean-ish newcomer serving both "naughty"(mango jerk wings) and "nice" (grilled fish tacos) fast food, which is also expected to go mobile. Flavor 180, 511 S. State St., Chicago, IL 60605, 312-291-0800.

The legacy of Papa Milano, a one-time mega-restaurateur in Chicago, will live on when his grandsons---producers of "Drunkboat"---open Mama Milano Pizza Bar, featuring the family's beloved recipes, including Neapolitan pies fired in a gas oven, starting sometime in May. Mama Milano Pizza Bar, 1419 N. Wells St., Chicago, IL 60610, no phone yet.

Given how highly anticipated it was, it's no surprise, really, that Giuseppe Tentori's GT Fish & Oyster is packed to the gills. Take one look at the menu---filled with the likes of sunfish ceviche with jícama and chimichurri, a lobster roll and tuna poke with mango cucumber and black sesame---and you'll know why. GT Fish & Oyster, 531 N. Wells St., Chicago, IL 60654, 312-929-3501.

Michael Jordan's is back...sort of. His eponymous Michael Jordan's Steak House---an offshoot of the ones in New York and Connecticut---will open in the InterContinental Chicago hotel along the Mag Mile, bringing with it seafood towers and fairly straightforward steaks and chops, like a Kansas City strip with Worcestershire glaze or Berkshire pork brined in bourbon and brown sugar with apple-cider sauce. Michael Jordan's Steak House, InterContinental Chicago, 505 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611, No phone yet.

Forget the ballpark dogs. The next time you're in Bridgeport, head to Calabruzzi's Café, where Southern and Central Italian cooking translates to a Italian Genoa tuna panino with black pepper and lemon in olive oil, thin and double-dough pizzas and house-made ravioli. Calabruzzi's Café, 3302 S. Halsted St., Chicago, IL 60608, 773-247-9999.

Opening within weeks of each other are Grant Achatz's adjacent Next Restaurant, an advance ticket dining destination, and newfangled cocktail lounge The Aviary. And they're drawing the kind of lines one would expect. The former's opening menu features dishes likesuprêmes de poussin and potage à la tortue Claire, while the latter---a neutral-hued spot---pours ice-encased The Rocks, a riff on an old fashioned, and a seven-layer Hurricane. Next Restaurant & The Aviary, 953-955 W. Fulton St., Chicago, IL 60607, no phone.

Reservations are now being accepted at Next Restaurant, the aptly named next project from Grant Achatz (Alinea). The menu is scheduled to change four times a year, with 1906 Paris as the first muse. The cost varies by day of the week and whether or not you choose to dine during prime time hours. The price point here is notably down-to-earth ($80 to $100 for six courses, with beverage pairings starting at $22 per person). Because the meal is paid for in advance, there's no transaction to speak of at the restaurant proper. Next Restaurant, 953 W. Fulton St., Chicago, IL 60607